Anchor

ABSTRACT

The anchor shank comprises two sections, hinged together and provided with an elastically extensible shock cord secured at its ends to the two sections intermediate the ends thereof. The shock cord is short enough that the shank is bowed at its hinge, unless tensile stress on the shank straightens the shank and elastically extends the shock cord. The anchor preferably includes a single, replaceable fluke which is pinned at an angle to the shank during use, and which can be folded for storage. An angled skeg may be provided on the shank to assist in upsetting the anchor to a working position.

ilnited States atent n 1 Cluett 1 Sept. 18, was

[ ANCHOR [76] Inventor: David G. Cluett, 151 Barton Ave.,

Palm Beach, Fla. 13820 [22] Filed: Feb. 2, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 222,856

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Reeves 114/206 Burrows 114/208 Hardy 114/207 Primary Examiner-Milton Buchler Assistant Examiner-Charles E. Frankfort Att0rneyJohn W. Malley et a1.

[57] ABSTRACT The anchor shank comprises two sections, hinged together and provided with an elastically extensible shock cord secured at its ends to the two sections intermediate the ends thereof. The shock cord is short enough that the shank is bowed at its hinge, unless tensile stress on the shank straightens the shank and elastically extends the shock cord. The anchor preferably includes a single, replaceable fluke which is pinned at an angle to the shank during use, and which can be folded for storage. An angled skeg may be provided on the shank to assist in upsetting the anchor to a working position.

10 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures ANCHOR BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The history of anchors is both lengthy and diverse. A summary discussion of anchors in most frequent, modern use is provided by Lazarus under the heading A Bit About Anchoring" in Yachting magazine, April, 1971, issue, pages 69, 136, 138 and 140.

The U.S. Pat. No. of Hastings, 674,839, issued May 21, 1901, discloses an anchor having a single fluke, fixedly secured to a shank. A rounded collapsible structure can be erected to protrude in the opposite direction from the fluke to help assure that the anchor will assume a fluke-down position of use.

The following U.S. Pats. Nos. show anchors wherein the flukes are pivotally connected to the anchor shanks: Burrows 605,076 issued June 7, 1898; Pettes 710,167 issued Sept. 30, 1902; Fewkes 173,929 issued Feb. 22, 1876; and Christie 2,669,962 issued Feb. 23, 1954.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention provides an easily, compactly stowable anchor which in its preferred fonn has a resiliency bowed shank which resiliently straightens when placed in tension, to increase the effective angle between the fluke and the shank. The fluke may be removed and replaced. When not in use, the fluke may be folded against a first part of the shank, and a second part of the shank may be folded over the fluke. Means are provided on the shank to urge the anchor, when being placed into use, to a fluke-down condition.

The principles of the invention will be further hereinafter discussed with reference to the drawing wherein a preferred embodiment is shown. The specifics illustrated in the drawings are intended to exemplify, rather than limit, aspects of the invention as defined in the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of the anchor, shown erected in full lines, partly folded in one set of phantom lines and with its shank resiliently stressed to a straight condition in a second set of phantom lines;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the anchor;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation view of the anchor, folded for storage; and

FIG. 4 is a front elevation view of one fluke for the anchor.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION The anchor includes a shank l2 constituted by two portions 14,16 hinged together at 18 to provide a transverse pivot axis 20 and Eye or ring means 22,24 provided on the lower side of each shank portion 14,16 intermediate the ends thereof and are interconnected by a resiliently extensible shock cord 26. The latter is normally shorter. than the distance along the shank longitudinal axis when the shank is straight, and so normally disposes the shank in a bowed, i.e. crooked, akimbo condition, the included angle being, e.g. 150 160. Typically, the shock cord 26 is made of rubber or synthetic plastic material. Suitable resiliently extensible cording for marine use is commercially available. The number of pounds pull on the shank ends required to resiliently lengthen the shock cord 26 sufficiently to straighten the shank may be varied, depending upon the boat or ship and wind, current and other sailing conditions. A typical value for a 40 foot yacht is 4,000 pounds. Thus, the anchor shank is structured to function somewhat like a human knee or elbow to reduce shock transmitted from a fixed anchorage to the anchor, rode, and deck mooring gear. Although it would generally be more expensive, this function could be provided by making the anchor shank of a unitary, arched length of spring metal.

The anchor shank portion 14 is provided at the end opposite from the hinge 18 with eye means 30 for attachment of the anchor rode. The anchor shank portion 16 is provided at the end opposite from the hinge 18 with a crown 32, e.g. fabricated from two opposite side plates 34 and an end plate 36, welded along abutting edges to the shank portion 16 and to one another. As an alternative, the elements 16,32 may be cast as a unit or otherwise unitarily formed or fabricated.

The crown side plates 34 are provided with a first pair of pin openings 38 aligned on a transverse axis nearer the shank portion 16 and end plate 36, and a second pair of pin openings 40 located below and forwardly of the first pair.

The anchor 10 further includes a fluke 42, which may be of differing shape and/or relative size than one depicted (FIG. 4), as nautical expertise will inform those interested in this invention. As depicted, the fluke 42 includes a generally triangular plate 44, having a strengthening rib 46 running longitudinally, centrally down the back side thereof. At the top of the fluke, there are two laterally spaced slots 48 formed therein, on opposite sides of the upper end of the rib 46.

Two axially aligned tubular hinge barrels 50 are transversely fixedly provided on the upper end of the fluke, laterally outside the slots 48 to provide a transverse pivot axis 52. At a level which is intermediate the depth of the slots 48, a transverse opening 54 is provided through the fluke rib 46. The hinge barrels 50 and opening 54 are so located, relative to one another, that the fluke may be fastened on the end of the shank portion 16 by aligning the openings of the barrels 50 with the pin openings 38, with the edges of the side plates 34 received in the slots 48, and a hinge pin 58 inserted through these aligned openings. The hinge pin 58 is elongated past the ends of the hinge barrels to serve as an anchor stock 60. A skeg 64 is shown projecting upwardly from the upper side of the shank portion 16, obliquely with respect to the long axis of the shank. The angulation of the skeg causes sand or mud to drive the shank laterally as the anchor is dragged across the bottom upside down. This tips the anchor over in short order, so the single fluke can dig in.

In order to erect the fluke with respect to the shank portion 16, the fluke is rotated about the pin 58 from the dashed line position shown in FIG. 1, to the full line position, whereupon the openings 40 and 54 are aligned. Then a pin 62 is inserted through the aligned openings 40 and 54. The pin 62 is provided with a retainer to prevent its unintentional withdrawal from the openings 40 and 54.

When the shock cord is substantially untensioned, the angular relation between the shank and fluke is as illustrated at Position 1 in FIG. 1. The weight of the down-angled shank helps tip the anchor over to a flukedown orientation, permitting the fluke to begin to dig in at an efiective angle of, e.g. 32.

When a moderate strain is taken on the anchor (Position 2), the shock cord begins to elastically lengthen, increasing the fluke digging angle to e.g. 39. At Position 3, there is a full strain on the dug-in anchor, and there is eg a 48 angle between the shank and fluke for best flat plate exposure of the fluke to bottom material. (With this increased angle, less fluke surface area is needed for adequate holding power.)

Note that when the pin 62 is pulled out, the fluke may be folded flat up against the underside of the shank portion 16, whereupon the shank portion 14 may be folded down and against the underside of the fluke. This provides a notably compact structure for storage.

It should now be apparent that the anchor described herein may be relatively non-fouling, lightweight, shock-resistant, changeable fluke, compactly storable, quickly set; has positive, high angle grip without skipping or slipping, can be positively reset or rotated to a new position without fouling the anchor rode in a wind change, stays set in mud, sand, rock and grass, and has superlative holding power per pound of anchor.

It should now be apparent that the anchor as described hereinabove possesses each of the attributes set forth in the specification under the heading Summary of the Invention hereinbefore. Because the anchor of the invention can be modified to some extent without departing from the principles of the invention as they have been outlined and explained in this specification, the present invention should be understood as encompassing all such modifications as are within the spirit and scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An anchor comprising:

a normally downwardly arched shank;

said shank having a sole fluke which projects generally downwardly from the underside of the shank near one end of the shank at an acute angle with respect to the longitudinal axis of the shank near the opposite end of the shank;

anchor rode securing means disposed on said shank near the opposite end thereof; and

guide means projecting generally upwardly from the upperside of the shank near the fluke, for urging the anchor toward a fluke-down orientation when pulled across the subaquatic bottom;

said shank being resiliently flexible to a substantially straight condition upon being subject to such tensile stress as can be expected to be incumbent thereon during normal service mooring an aquatic vessel.

2. The anchor of claim 1 wherein said shank includes two axially adjacent portions having means defining a hinge pivotally securing them together; said hinge means having a generally transverse, horizontal pivot axis; a resiliently extensible shock cord; two fasteners for said shock cord, one on each shank portion, inter mediate the ends thereof; opposite ends of the shock cord being secured to respective of the two fasteners; the distance between the two fasteners when the two shank portions are longitudinally aligned in a straight line being greater than the length of the shock cord, except when the shock cord is resiliently stretched in tension, whereby said shock cord normally disposes the two shank portions at an angle of less than 180 to one another to provide downward arching of the shank.

3. The anchor of claim 1 wherein the guide means is constituted by a skeg, obliquely oriented on the shaft with respect to the longitudinal axis of the shank.

4. The anchor of claim 3 including means defining two laterally spaced, downwardly projecting generally parallel flanges secured on the shank adjacent one end thereof;

means defining a first and a second pair of generally transversely, horizontally aligned openings through said flanges;

said fluke having means defining a first and a second opening means generally transversely, horizontally therethrough with the same spacing as between the first and second pair of generally transversely, horizontally aligned openings through said flanges; and first and second pin means passing through respective of the first and second openings and opening means of said flanges and fluke to mount the fluke on the shaft.

5. The anchor of claim 4 wherein at least one of said pins is removably received in said openings, said fluke, when the removably received pin is removed, being foldable up against the shank.

6. The anchor of claim d wherein both of said pins are removably received in said openings whereby said fluke may be replaced.

7. The anchor of claim 2 including means defining two laterally spaced, downwardly projecting generally parallel flanges secured on the shank adjacent one end thereof;

means defining a first and a second pair of generally transversely, horizontally aligned openings through said flanges;

said fluke having means defining a first and a second opening means generally transversely, horizontally therethrough with the same spacing as between the first and second pair of generally transversely, horizontally aligned openings through said flanges; and first and second pin means passing through respective of the first and second openings and opening means of said flanges and fluke to mount the fluke on the shaft.

8. The anchor of claim 7 wherein at least one of said pins is removably received in said openings, said fluke, when the removably received pin is removed, being foldable up against the shank, and the portion of the shank which includes the opposite end thereof then being foldable downwardly about said hinge means, then upwardly against the folded up fluke to further compact said anchor for storage.

9. The anchor of claim 8 wherein both of said pins are removably received in said openings whereby said fluke may be replaced.

10. The anchor of claim 9 wherein the fluke includes a generally triangular plate having a rib secured thereon and extending longitudinally, centrally on one face of the plate; the first opening means being constituted by two laterally spaced tubular hinge barrels mounted adjacent the outer corners of the upper edge of the plate of said fluke, and the second opening means being constituted by a generally horizontal, transverse opening through said rib; there being means defining two laterally spaced slots formed in said plate laterally between the two tubular hinge barrels, on opposite sides of and generally paralleling said rib, said slots being oriented to receive respective of said flanges mounted on said shank.

# i =0 i 1B 

1. An anchor comprising: a normally downwardly arched shank; said shank having a sole fluke which projects generally downwardly from the underside of the shank near one end of the shank at an acute angle with respect to the longitudinal axis of the shank near the opposite end of the shank; anchor rode securing means disposed on said shank near the opposite end thereof; and guide means projecting generally upwardly from the upperside of the shank near the fluke, for urging the anchor toward a flukedown orientation when pulled across the subaquatic bottom; said shank being resiliently flexible to a substantially straight condition upon being subject to such tensile stress as can be expected to be incumbent thereon during normal service mooring an aquatic vessel.
 2. The anchor of claim 1 wherein said shank includes two axially adjacent portions having means defining a hinge pivotally securing them together; said hinge means having a generally transverse, horizontal pivot axis; a resiliently extensible shock cord; two fasteners for said shock cord, one on each shank portion, intermediate the ends thereof; opposite ends of the shock cord being secured to respective of the two fasteners; the distance between the two fasteners when the two shank portions are longitudinally aligned in a straight line being greater than the length of the shock cord, except when the shock cord is resiliently stretched in tension, whereby said shock cord normally disposes the two shank portions at an angle of less than 180* to one another to provide downward arching of the shank.
 3. The anchor of claim 1 wherein the guide means is constituted by a skeg, obliquely oriented on the shaft with respect to the longitudinal axis of the shank.
 4. The anchor of claim 1 including means defining two laterally spaced, downwardly projecting generally parallel flanges secured on the shank adjacent one end thereof; means defining a first and a second pair of generally transversely, horizontally aligned openings through said flanges; said fluke having means defining a first and a second opening means generally transversely, horizontally therethrough with the same spacing as between the first and second pair of generally transversely, horizontally aligned openings through said flanges; and first and second pin means passing through respective of the first and second openings and opening means of said flanges and fluke to mount the fluke on the shaft.
 5. The anchor of claim 4 wherein at least one of said pins is removably received in said openings, said fluke, whEn the removably received pin is removed, being foldable up against the shank.
 6. The anchor of claim 4 wherein both of said pins are removably received in said openings whereby said fluke may be replaced.
 7. The anchor of claim 2 including means defining two laterally spaced, downwardly projecting generally parallel flanges secured on the shank adjacent one end thereof; means defining a first and a second pair of generally transversely, horizontally aligned openings through said flanges; said fluke having means defining a first and a second opening means generally transversely, horizontally therethrough with the same spacing as between the first and second pair of generally transversely, horizontally aligned openings through said flanges; and first and second pin means passing through respective of the first and second openings and opening means of said flanges and fluke to mount the fluke on the shaft.
 8. The anchor of claim 7 wherein at least one of said pins is removably received in said openings, said fluke, when the removably received pin is removed, being foldable up against the shank, and the portion of the shank which includes the opposite end thereof then being foldable downwardly about said hinge means, then upwardly against the folded up fluke to further compact said anchor for storage.
 9. The anchor of claim 8 wherein both of said pins are removably received in said openings whereby said fluke may be replaced.
 10. The anchor of claim 9 wherein the fluke includes a generally triangular plate having a rib secured thereon and extending longitudinally, centrally on one face of the plate; the first opening means being constituted by two laterally spaced tubular hinge barrels mounted adjacent the outer corners of the upper edge of the plate of said fluke, and the second opening means being constituted by a generally horizontal, transverse opening through said rib; there being means defining two laterally spaced slots formed in said plate laterally between the two tubular hinge barrels, on opposite sides of and generally paralleling said rib, said slots being oriented to receive respective of said flanges mounted on said shank. 